Syrian women, backbone of the revolution

Syrian women playing a crucial role in the revolution. A Saudi Arabian hacker declares cyber war on Israel. And Argentine tax payers rewarded with free music downloads.

Syrian women, backbone of the revolution

The women of Deraa, where the Syrian uprising began back in March, took to the streets on Saturday, calling for the release of their husbands, brothers or sons currently detained by security forces. The rally illustrates how women are playing a crucial role in the uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Rime Allaf, a researcher at London based laboratory Chatham House has described them as the backbone of the revolution, placing particular emphasis on their involvement in organizing protests and rallies. She uses the actress Fadwa Suleiman as an example, who, as we can see in this amateur video footage, has led a number of demonstrations in Homs in recent weeks.

And when they are not on the streets, the women of Syria are working behind the scenes. Some tending to wounded protesters who cannot get to hospital, others in factories or workshops like this one, making banners and Syrian flags to be used in the anti-government rallies.

But women are not exempt from the brutal and bloody crackdown. And to avoid arrest, torture and rape, many prefer to protest from home, as we can see in these online videos. And although women are at the forefront of the uprising against the Damascus regime, it looks as if they plan on being equally involved in the Syria of tomorrow.

Israel hit by cyber-attacks

The Tel Aviv stock exchange, Israeli airline El Al, and also two government websites in Azerbaijan, Israel’s Muslim ally, were victims of cyber-attacks on Monday, leaving them temporarily unavailable; and some are still running at half speed. The Israeli authorities claim these cyber-attacks are the work of a Saudi Arabian hacker who goes under the name of 0xOmar…

The Saudi Arabian hacker posted a message for Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon online last week, declaring cyber war on Israel, and warning the authorities of an imminent attack. The document also urges Arab web users to mobilize en masse against Israel, to bring the country down.

And this is not 0xOmar’s first attack on Israel. At the beginning of January, the hacker admitted to working with a collective of hackers called “group XP”, to post the details of hundreds of thousands of Israeli credit card holders on the Internet.

And although these attacks have so far only had a limited impact, there could be many more to come in the weeks and months ahead. Well this is what the “Cyber Defence Summit” is saying. The regional organization which works on cyber security in the Middle East thinks the recent attacks by the Saudi Arabian hacker mark the beginnings of a veritable cyber war against Israel and represent a new front in the Middle East Conflict.

Argentina: good taxpayers will get free online music

The local authorities in Argentina’s Buenos Aires have announced that all taxpayers who filed a return and paid all their dues will be eligible for free music downloads. The unusual move is the result of a partnership between the Buenos Aires tax collection bureau and Sony music and is aimed at changing the Argentines’ perception of tax paying and also to showcase local artists. The initiative should also prove useful in combatting online music piracy.

Now trending on social networks

"Yahoo!" has been trending heavily on social networks ever since co-founder Jerry Yang announced on Tuesday that he would be stepping down from the company’s board of directors. The news spread across the web like wildfire, with many wondering about the company’s future. Some have been speculating over who will be replacing Jerry Yang, whilst others are saying his resignation could lead to a takeover of the company. One thing’s for certain though, at least as far as web users are concerned, his resignation marks the beginning of a new era for the American firm.

Video of the day

This video was made by Los Angeles based artist, Madeline Schichtel. It’s called “This is what Madeline did”. She shot a little video every day throughout 2011, and then edited each day down to just a second long. So we get to see everything Madeline got up to throughout the year, in the space of just a few minutes.